As we enter another year, some painful issues remain unresolved in the Middle East. I hope that 2015 can bring about some changes that will finally bring stability, fairness, and a just peace to that part of the world.

The Palestinian Authority, after walking away from the last round of negotiations with Israeli officials many months ago and amidst increasing tensions in the region, attempted to sidestep negotiation and instead tried for a statehood bid at the United Nations unilaterally. Thankfully, their efforts failed. This effort was reckless and not a good path forward. Even if the vote passed, issues would still be unresolved — and so this statehood attempt is nothing more than dangerous political theater that only further encourages Palestinian hostility and violence against Israel.

Very real issues still exist that have to be negotiated and resolved and none of these issues would have been addressed by the statehood bid.

•The first and most obvious issue is that no real lines and decisions exist on the borders of the Palestinian state. The Palestinians want to return to the pre-1967 borders, which are actually similar to the 1948 U.N. proposed borders that the Arabs rejected. These borders are long gone, have no relevance today, and do not reflect changes that have taken place over the many decades since then and Israel understandably doesn’t want to return to these borders for safety concerns.

•Second, the status of Jerusalem remains unresolved. Jerusalem has been under Israeli jurisdiction since the country won control of the city from Jordan during the 1967 war. Under Israeli administration, the city is the sole Middle Eastern capital that enjoys religious freedom for all faiths. This is a far cry from the way the city was governed when Jordan had control of it and demolished Jewish holy sites. Palestinians want control of the city including over some of Judaism’s holiest sites.

•The largest issue, however, is the status of the Palestinians living outside of Israel. These Palestinians don’t want to move into the West Bank or Gaza to become Palestinian citizens. They, instead, insist on moving into Israel. Millions of Palestinians live outside of Israel. Settling them in the country would be both a logistical impossibility and would be akin to inviting several million people who spent the last 66 years devoted to your destruction into your country.

These obstacles remain in the peace process and these are the three roadblocks that have kept the Palestinians from making peace. The only way that these issues will be resolved is through direct negotiation between the two parties.

Lastly, Palestinians will not recognize that Jewish people have a 3,000-year connection to the land. In fact, they do not believe that Jews should be allowed to live anywhere in the region. The Palestinians remain committed to the narrative that they are entitled to all of the land of Israel. This remains the crux of the situation. The Palestinian Authority continues to encourage its people to attack Israelis at the same time they are seeking statehood. The United Nations Security Council made the noble, morally-correct decision not to reward terrorism and obstructionism.

I understand the world’s growing frustration with the status quo and, frankly, many Israelis are as well. We cannot, however, allow the difficult and complex factors to cause us to give in to Palestinian demands. We cannot reward a group of people who have squandered so many real opportunities for peace by declaring a state that would be nothing more than an emotional message that would only be used to encourage more violence.

My hope is that the Palestinian people recognize the folly of this attempt and come back to the table to work out the issues of the conflict.

I wish all of you a Happy New Year and may it be a more peaceful world for all of us.